5 Ways to Enhance Your Customer Service Efforts

1. Put yourself in your customers shoes

To master the art of providing exceptional customer service, you must always put yourself in your customers shoes and view things from their perspective. In order to understand your customers, you have to think like them and understand what drives their purchasing decisions. One way to do this is to consider what is important to your customer demographic and determine specifically how your product or service benefits them. One of the most important questions you can ask is “what problem does my product or service solve?”. It is not enough to solely focus on the features and benefits of your services. You need to be able to relate to your customer in order to effectively communicate how you can help them overcome obstacles or make life easier for them.

2. Continuously work towards improving customer satisfaction

A satisfied customer is a repeat customer and potentially a life-long customer if you continuously provide an exceptional customer experience. One of the best ways to understand your customer is to create a customer feedback survey. This is a highly effective way to solicit honest feedback on a regular basis to allow you to keep your focus and attention on the things that matter most to your customers, as opposed to the things that you “think” matter most to them. There are tons of free survey tools that you can choose from like Survey Monkey, KwikSurveys and SurveyPlanet which offer easy-to-use templates and unlimited responses which enables you to get the most out of your survey.

3. Aim for success with marketing strategies

One of the best ways to improve your business processes is by using a marketing tool that helps you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your operation. A SWOT Analysis is a compilation of your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision. This is an effective tool in helping develop your brand’s mission statement, unique selling point, and forecast customer and market trends.

4. Create a memorable customer experience

Businesses with a dedicated focus on providing exceptional customer service are highly likely to benefit from word-of-mouth referrals, positive online reviews, and higher retention rates. Every interaction with your customer counts and is a determining factor on whether they will continue to do business with you. From initial lead capture to post-purchase communication, it is extremely important to add value to the customer experience by going above and beyond what is expected of you. Building a memorable customer experience allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level, which helps them build trust and confidence in your business.

5. Understand the value of free resources

Free always stands out. Whether it’s a free e-book, free trial period of your services, or a free company branded calendar. Free resources are an awesome way to add value to your products or services while also showcasing what your business is about. For physical stores, consider promotional materials with your company’s logo that you can hand out to your customers while they shop or after a purchase. For businesses with an online presence, you can use a customized sign-up form to create a lead list of potential customers who are interesting in hearing about special offers and promotions.